


The Magic of Solace Farm

by SilverGlass83



Category: Dragonlance - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Arguing, Depression, Don't copy to another site, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fish out of Water, Fishing, Frenemies then Lovers, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Learning to Trust Again, Magic, Mystery, One Really Angry Chicken, POV Alternating, POV First Person, POV Third Person, Past Abuse, Raistlin and Technology!, Raistlin is still snarky, Self-Loathing, Slow Burn, but this time he's wearing a straw hat!, dungeon delving, farming, mining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:15:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28617180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverGlass83/pseuds/SilverGlass83
Summary: I needed an escape from the soul-crushing future that awaited me living in Zuzu City. So when I finally opened Grandfather's letter and learned he had given me Solace Farm, I knew that this was my way out. Better days were ahead of me!Oh silly, naive me...Now, after the first disastrous season on the farm, I'm broke, depressed, and desperate. On a whim, I prayed on a shooting star for help.Little did I know that said help would come crashing down on top of me.Literally!
Relationships: Female Player (Stardew Valley)/Raistlin Majere (Dragonlance)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 4





	The Magic of Solace Farm

**Author's Note:**

> One time Disclaimer: Please note that I do not own any characters or settings here within Stardew Valley. They belong to ConcernedApe LLC. Nor do I own Raistlin Majere or any other Dragonlance character or reference that may turn up in this fic, that world was created by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman and owned by Wizards of the Coast in general. Writing this fanfic is for fun, I make no profit from it.  
> On that note, I am not a professional writer, so please forgive any issues you find. However, concrit is good and comments are appreciated :)  
> I rate my fics as explicit because I'd rather err on the side of caution. There will be sex, violence, adult themes, and sensitive topics. If you aren't into any of that, then this fic probably won't be for you. But note that I do try to put trigger warnings in the front of chapters as a heads up if we're heading into anything that might catch anyone off guard.

***  
FARMER  
***

The sun slowly set over Stardew Valley, making the late spring clouds drip with vibrant colors of red and gold against a deep indigo backdrop that inevitably would become studded with pinpoints of cold light. Serene and peaceful, it would hold anyone's attention. So beautiful was it.

That is, it would hold anyone _else's_ attention, except mine.

My eyes couldn't pause for one second on the glorious celestial spectacle, for all they could focus on were the withering remains of my failed garden.

My grandfather's pride and joy; Solace Farm had passed to me upon his death.

It was my inheritance, my duty.

'He should have trusted someone else with it,' I thought bitterly, not for the first time.

_See? Nothing good comes from the things you touch._

_You failed._

“I'm sorry, Grandpa,” I hear myself whisper before I can stop the flood of self-pity gathering on my lashes.

As if in answer, the last leaf off my one remaining parsnip plant wilted over to die on the ground with the rest of them. In my mind, I imagined that it didn't even sigh as it gave up on life. It was ready to move on from this world of high hopes, crushed dreams, and vast quantities of ineptitude.

_You didn't try hard enough..._

_Failure._

A lump filled my throat despite how sick I was of crying, sick of listening to the echoes of my own doubts that only served to remind me that I was not cut out for this life. Furiously I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand, blistered from the day spent cutting wood and clearing more space for next season's crops. I shook my head to clear it.

 **SNAP-HISS** went the can of Joja Cola as I opened it, trying not to think about how I had fished it out of the small pond on the property just a few days ago. Who threw full cans of cola into a pond for Yoba's sake?! I'd blame Shane, but, to be honest, I never saw him drink anything besides beer. It could have been Sam or Abigail or even Sebastian (if the other two had managed to drag him out of his basement) during one of their nights of partying. In fact, I recalled that Abigail had admitted to me they used to hang out on this property before I showed up. Leave it to me to be the party pooper.

I took a giant swig of the foul, overly sugary liquid if only to try to drown my doubts with diabetes. It was worth a shot, right? Nothing else had worked out so far...

“PHTHTH!!” I spit the stuff out half a heartbeat later without even managing to swallow. “YUCK!”

Wiping my tongue on the sleeve of my dirty work shirt, I dumped the can out into the grass beside the porch. The liquid swirled and fizzled in the grass, upsetting a nearby colony of ants. “Oh, no! I'm sorry!” I apologized as I hastily redirected the stream away from the entrance to their home. “I can't do anything right...”

Can't grow parsnips.

Can't even keep ants alive.

Why am I even here...

 _Worthless_.

“Meow?” mewled a dark gray calico cat as she sauntered over to me for her nightly demand of ear scrunches.

Well, perhaps not completely worthless at keeping things alive.

“Hey, Trixy,” I greeted and gave in to her request, giving her amble scratches along her cheeks and chin. The act earned me a loud rumble of purrs. “At least _you_ like me,” I grumbled, ignoring the glaring fruits of my failure all around me. I couldn't grow a simple crop and I couldn't make friends, having unwittingly put a damper on the locals' hangout. I felt as though I started out here on the wrong foot and had face planted every day since.

As if to mock me further, another wooden shingle fell off the house behind me with a clatter. Oh, yeah, I also knew nothing about maintenance and building.

 _Useless_.

Trixy turned over onto her back, her belly on full display, her large green eyes shimmering expectantly at me. Daring me.

“HA! You can't fool me.” I managed a laugh as she smooshed her forehead into the ground below her, looking for all the world as innocent as a lamb. Sure, if a lamb had razor-sharp claws, piercing canine teeth, and a thirst for blood. I knew better than to tempt fate and rub _that_ belly!

“Yes, you're gorgeous, as always,” I said instead. Praise went far when dealing with her Highness. “But I really prefer not to have to visit Dr. Harvey anymore this season, thank you very much. Another bill for stitches is the last thing I need right now.

“Now go catch me some mice near the old greenhouse, you free-loader!” I shooed the feline away with a lazy wave of my hand.

Deciding she had enough affection for one night (or more likely understanding she wasn't going to get a taste of my blood) Trixy darted off to disappear through the grass for her usual evening hunt.

“Bloodthirsty savage!” I called as her tail disappeared around the remains of what used to be my Grandfather's greenhouse. Someday I hoped to afford to fix it up and fill it with all kinds of plants as he had done.

Someday.

_You will fail._

Valiantly ignoring the continuing whispers of doubt, I was still smiling when my eyes finally drifted back to my pitiful attempt at gardening. My smile vanished. Forget rebuilding the greenhouse, I had to master the basics first!

“Here's to next season!” I toasted the desiccated plant husks with my empty Joja can.

_You accomplished nothing all season._

_Go home._

With a resigned sigh, I smacked my head against the rickety porch post as I finally allowed myself to take in the array of color painting across the sky. The last rays of the sun flared out, leaving the small band of clouds red along their bellies like one of Trixy's poor victims.

Perhaps the mocking voice was right. I probably will fail next season just as bad as I had this one. What was worse was that I couldn't afford another season like what I just endured. But the only option I had left was to keep going and try my best.

_Your best is never good enough..._

'Argh I'm in a _mood_ tonight,' I think to myself and pinch the bridge of my nose with my fingers in a futile attempt to silence my doubts.

“Am I hormonal? I must be hormonal...” I mutter to no one.

_No, you're just pathetic and lonely._

Great, now the 'no one' was responding to me! Add crazy to the list.

“Tomorrow _will_ be better,” I tell myself, for tomorrow is the start of summer. Running my hand over the frayed braid of fading blue hair falling over my shoulder, I considered again my plan of attack for the new season.

First thing in the morning I planned to go buy new seeds and spend the day planting. With what little I had left in my savings I could hopefully afford some tomatoes, radishes, _maybe_ some wheat, and, if I was lucky, one packet of melon seeds. If I could haggle Pierre down a bit on his prices that is. But that man rarely budged on anything. Greedy old coot.

Blueberries would be nice, I consider as I daydream of pies and muffins like the ones Grandpa used to make. But I seriously doubted I'd have enough left over for those even if I did somehow manage to budge the owner of Pelican Town's only General Store. There was no way I was stepping foot in Jojo Mart to compare prices! I might be desperate, but I still had my pride.

But... blueberries!

Next summer, perhaps.

If I made it that far...

_Worthless._

Again the tears threatened, bursting my bubble of freshly baked pies and mouthwatering treats. The reality loomed that I _first_ had to afford such things, _then_ I had to grow them. And if what transpired this last season was any indication, it was going to be nothing short of hard, backbreaking labor and no small amount of prayers to keep anything alive through to harvest.

I needed help. That was the truth of it. I was just a city girl fumbling her way blindly through nature like a goblin in an antique store full of precious glassware. I was making mistakes and breaking things. It would be laughably entertaining if it wasn't so pathetic.

But there was no one to turn to without admitting defeat.

I could do this.

I had to!

_It's pointless._

I took a shuddering breath and tried to master my wayward thoughts.

When had I become so insecure of my abilities? When had I become so cynical that I no longer resembled the bright, chipper woman who had graduated top pianist of her class? Where did my confidence go? Where were my dreams?

Oh, that's right, _he_ happened. He made me like this...

All I had to do was look at my wrists to see the faint reminders of the life I left behind, of the life I tried to get out of, by any means possible.

Had Grandfather known how miserable I was? Did he know that my marriage was a complete and utter failure?

No. Of course not.

No one knew. Not my mother, not my family, not what few friends I once had.

No one.

Only myself and only Donovan. Curse the day I ever laid eyes on that slimy bastard!

As the inky blackness above my head began to dot with stars, I recalled then one of my lowest points...

It was just this past winter when I had been sitting there at my desk working under the ironclad thumb of Joja Corp as one of the faceless drones in a cramped cubicle. I never had a chance to use my music degree. Donovan wouldn't let me. He said art and music were worthless, that they were mere hobbies. Hobbies, fun, and joy had no place in his white-collar world and if I wanted any sort of independence, any sort of autonomy outside of being his 'trophy wife', then I'd work the job he gave me and be thankful for it. Asshole.

So instead of following my passion, I worked in sales and customer service at the local branch in Zuzu City that he managed. I worked long hours answering phones and dealing with unhappy clients and employees laboring on the Jojo Mart floors. For a short time it was nice to get away from the horrors of home, nice to have something to keep me occupied. But then I blinked and realized that nearly five years had passed.

I couldn't take any more.

I tried my own way out, but like everything else in my life, I failed miserably in the attempt.

After getting out of the hospital I then opened my barely used top drawer on my desk and found Grandfather's sealed letter. I had put it there on my first day of work, hopeful that Donovan would never find it. It was all I had left of Grandpa - the last tether to my childhood - so it was precious to me.

The last time I had seen my Grandfather was before my marriage; before my life became a nightmare. I didn't want to open it, because opening it would trap me in this life. It would be like admitting the past was gone, that the woman Grandpa had given this piece of paper to was as dead as he was. This letter was the last thing he had given me. Or so I thought.

I'll never forget the night Grandfather had handed it to me and the words he shared while on his deathbed:

“ _....and for my very special granddaughter,” he had wheezed, his body reaching the end of his strength. “I want you to have this sealed envelope. No, No, don't open it yet... have patience. Now, listen close...” He reached his feeble, shaking hand out to me and I took it without hesitation. Holding the cold appendage in mine, I couldn't stop the tears that started to fall. He simply smiled his usual, warm smile. Despite his pain, his eyes still held that twinkle in them that I loved so much._

“ _There will come a day when you feel crushed by the burden of modern life...” he whispered to me, “and your bright spirit will fade before a growing emptiness. When that happens, my girl, you'll be ready for this gift. Now, let Grandpa rest...”_

“I'm sorry, Grandpa,” I whispered now in the present, my eyes once more glittering with tears. “I'm trying really hard here... but it's not going so good.” I wiped a hand across my face to clear away the traitorous tears. Yes, I was definitely hormonal. Tears would not erase what had happened up to this point.

Because, shamefully, it had taken five years before I had the courage to open his letter.

Five years of being crushed by the 'burden of modern life'; five years of _him_ and five years of not using my talents and living my dream. Stagnant and empty inside, I finally broke the seal to see what this gift was that he offered to my faded spirit, finally freeing me.

Grandfather had left me Solace Farm. It was his pride and joy, his life's work.

But, like so many other things, I was failing at keeping his dream alive.

And I no longer had dreams of my own.

I hadn't found freedom, I only found-

_Failure._

That did it, that last thought released the dam holding back my emotions. Like the wilting leaves of my poor parsnip plants, I let my tears fall without a sound. After a while my eyes were drawn back to the sky. There, high above my head glittered a bright, golden star. Perhaps it was the blur of my tears, perhaps it was wishful thinking, but it seemed as though the star was moving; like it was fleeing this pathetic excuse that had become my existence.

It _was_ a shooting star; I realized a moment later with a start. It brought back memories of Grandpa and me laying on this very lawn, watching shooting stars just like this when I was a child. We'd spend hours here, sprawled out on the grass and staring up at the endless sky above us, the sound of his farm echoing all around as fireflies danced in the air. Joyous, full of life, his farm had once been my refuge.

Back then the sky didn't look so cold to me, so empty and foreboding. Everything looked brighter with Grandpa still beside me. He would encourage me to make wishes on all the pretty shooting stars we saw. Life was good then, it was magical in a way that only the eyes of youth saw.

Oh, how I wanted so very badly to be that young girl once more!

When I wasn't so sad and damaged and hopeless; when I had the energy left over to nurture and inspire others around me - plant, animal, human, or otherwise.

When I still had hopes and dreams to call my very own...

“Please,” I whispered, my heart twisting within me as if to wring out the last ounce of hope inside it. “Please, help me, Grandpa! I need your help. I can't do this alone... I don't want to be alone anymore...”

I buried my face in my hands, not caring how the dirt on my palms smudged my skin. I needed a good, long cry, a glass of wine, and a night of sleep. Wiping the back of my hand across my nose I blinked my eyes in an attempt to clear them.

Maybe it was my tears, but I swore that golden star was still there! And it was growing!

I blinked again. Not only was it getting bigger, but it was illogically still moving. It should have shot across the heavens by now!

Was it a plane? A satellite? A UFO?! Truly it was like no shooting star I had ever seen before!

Suddenly, as if knowing I was watching it, the ball of light flared brighter. I watched, awestruck, as it slammed against the first layer of atmosphere and rocketed through the ozone, sparking and flaring with brilliant, multicolored light. Colors swirled around it, of all and of none, weaving and pulling as if jealously trying to stop its descent.

Then, with a flare that was so bright I had to fight against squeezing my eyes shut, I watched the ball of golden flame break free of the gravitational force trying to keep it aloft and resume its unstoppable plummet. Freed.

As it fell, a small chunk was expelled from the main mass and headed south, pulsing blood-red in the night before I lost sight of it over the Cidersap Forest.

I waited and held my breath, half expecting the rest of the asteroid to suddenly break apart. They did that, right? Usually, gravity and the atmosphere reduced all but the largest chunks of space debris to dust.

But no, of _course_ I wouldn't be so lucky. The main body of the asteroid was still heading straight for me.

Straight at Solace Farm.

Shit. Shit. SHIT!

***

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Welcome to another crazy brain child of mine! Blame getting over covid, stress, reading the "Innkeeper Chronicles" in less than three days, and the 1.5 update release for Stardew Valley that finally ignited this long-festering idea.  
> Anyway, this fic is in its infant stages and I have barely anything written or planned. It will be updated as I go and when I have time. My other works still hold precedence. But please, do feel free to let me know what you think!


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